NEWS AND EVENTS

BURLINGTON- BOSTON GLOBE- ​New stores and homes will soon rise on the site of the former Building 19½ on Route 3A in Burlington, continuing the recent surge of activity to the town’s already bustling economy. Read more...

BEDFORD- Starting September 23rd, The Town of Bedford's new DASH service will be providing a lunchtime shuttle for the MITRE/Crosby Drive area. Called the DASH and Dine shuttle, the service will pick-up employees and take them to popular lunch spots along Great Road and will return them back to work after lunch. Read more...

BILLERICA- ​Vacation is over, but that doesn't mean the fun has to stop! Turn your boring old commute into an exciting trip by carpooling, vanpooling, biking, or taking public transit. Log your "fun" trips in NuRide during the month of September and be entered to win a $50 Amex Gift Card.Read more...

BILLERICA-Over the last few months, we've focused our attention on initiatives to improve transportation, workforce resources, and permitting. This fall we will host a healthcare forum to discuss the future of healthcare in our community and a CEO roundtable with Congressman Seth Moulton to discuss initiatives to improve business competitiveness in MA. In addition, we have made progress on many fronts; one of the highlights was that we were awarded $100,000 from the state to improve public transportation connections along Route 3. Read more...

AUGUST 4, 2016STARTUP DAY ACROSS AMERICA- SUCCESSFUL ROUNDTABLE WITH CONGRESSMAN MOULTON AND LOCAL STARTUPS

BURLINGTON- Congressman Seth Moulton in partnership with the Middlesex 3 Coalition and Northeastern University celebrated Startup Day Across America by hosting a roundtable discussion with over 100 entrepreneus, business leaders and government officials to discuss the challenges that the startup community faces in his district and the Commonwealth.

BILLERICA- Transportation Management Associations (TMAs) are groups that organize to work on transportation concerns in their region. They primarily address issues related to traffic congestion and air quality caused by automobiles. By promoting rideshare programs, transit, shuttles, biking/walking or other measures, TMAs play a useful role in working with private employers to encourage employees to leave their cars at home. Read more...

JUNE 22, 2016MIDDLESEX 3 COALITION AND THE TOWN OF BEDFORD WIN FEDERAL GRANT TO EXPAND TRANSIT FOR RESIDENTS

BEDFORD- The Town of Bedford has partnered with the Middlesex 3 Transportation Management Association (M3 TMA) to win a $47,000 federal transportation grant through the Massachusetts Community Transit Program. The grant will help to fund a two-year pilot program to launch a resident on-demand shuttle in the Town of Bedford. Read more...

APRIL 20, 2016MIDDLESEX 3 AREA EMPLOYERS HONORED FOR THEIR COMMUTER PROGRAMS

BEDFORD- Two area employers recently received Excellence in Commuter Options (ECO) Awards at a ceremony at Fenway Park. The MITRE Corporation and National Development were both recognized for their efforts to reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions by offering Commuter Options Programs to their employees and tenants. By encouraging employees to utilize sustainable transportation options like public transit, bicycling, walking or ridesharing (carpools and vanpools) these companies are playing a vital role in influencing transportation choices that impact communities as well as the local economy. Read more...

LOWELL- As high-tech companies migrate to the Middlesex County Route 3 corridor, some experience transportation challenges for their employees. iRobot, as Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito pointed out on Thursday, is one of those area companies that needs to attract young people to its headquarters outside of Boston (in Bedford, specifically)."They can get on a train, and get up here in a very short period of time, but once they get here, they need to figure out how to get to iRobot," Polito told municipal officials at City Hall before signing community compact agreements. Read more...

LOWELL- Today, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito signed a Community Compact agreement with officials from the municipalities of Lowell, Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford, Lexington, Tewksbury, and Tyngsboro. “We are excited to announce new partnerships between the Commonwealth and these municipalities,” said Lieutenant Governor Polito.“We look forward to working with city and town officials to find answers to the transportation challenges as they relate to job opportunities and economic development along the Rt. 3 corridor. It is this type of regional approach that we support and encourage at the municipal level. In addition, we will be providing assistance in key areas such as cyber-security and energy-efficiency.” Read more...

BURLINGTON -- New restaurants are popping up in town in what seem to be ever-trendier spaces, places like Del Frisco's Grille, The Bancroft, Redstone and Paul. But even as Burlington's restaurant scene expands, these new spots are running into a difficult problem: Many of their employees -- or prospective ones -- have a hard time getting to and from work without a car, and with limited public-transportation options. more...

NOVEMBER 2, 2015MIDDLESEX 3 GROUP MAY SOON GET NAME ON AREA HIGHWAYBY RICK SOBEY

Cruising down Route 3 on the way to Boston, or heading back the other way toward Lowell, drivers may soon see signs that read "Middlesex 3 Highway." The Middlesex 3 Coalition of communities and businesses along the Route 3 corridor is now a step closer to its goal of designating the highway from Route 128 in Burlington to the New Hampshire border the "Middlesex 3 Highway." more...

It’s been said that there’s strength in numbers, and if that’s the case, the Middlesex 3 Coalition is hoping to prove to the business community, government, and the Massachusetts political landscape that the cities and towns along Route 3 in Middlesex County are a force to be reckoned with. more...

JULY 16, 2015IT'S TIME TO TAKE ACTION TO ADDRESS TRAFFIC CONGESTIONBY ROBERT BUCKLEY, ESQ.

A sign of the rise of economic well-being in the Commonwealth comes at us daily with the upswing in congestion on many of the major arteries in eastern Massachusetts. However, unless the state aggressively works with the business community as well as municipalities to lessen congestion, frustration is likely to grow with long-term implications adversely impacting economic prospects for the Commonwealth.more...

APRIL 8, 2015 RETAIL WORKSHOP IS A SUCCESSBY EMILY MOSS

“Retailers are the heart and soul of the community,” said Laura Stefanescu of Northern Bank whose opening remarks set the tone for an informative and motivational evening at the recent Best Retail Practices Workshop. more...

In the Quincy office of PharmaLogics Recruiting, employees stroll in anytime before 10 a.m., take Fridays off during the summer when they have hit their 40 hours, and are encouraged to crack open a cold one from the fully stocked beer refrigerator at the end of the day.And when it is time for a break from work, a game of Ping-Pong, a meditation session, or a quick trip down to the free 24-hour gym might be in order. read more...

Commercial developers and major employers in the suburbs have a lot on their minds headed into 2015. Among their top concerns is transportation. Specifically: How do suburban office park owners and major employers attract talented workers who increasingly want to live and work in urban areas and increasingly eschew owning cars? read more...

BURLINGTON—The Suburban Professional Women’s Network (SPW Network) today hosted an array of local, business women power players during a networking luncheon to discuss economic development in Boston’s suburbs.read more...

BEDFORD - Through a unique and powerful growing public-private partnership of communities along the Route 3 Corridor from Burlington to Lowell, one of the first initiatives to bear fruit is the formation of the Middlesex 3 Transportation Management Association (TMA). read more...

BURLINGTON - Executive Director of the Middlesex 3 Coalition Stephanie Cronin recently discussed the overall scope and initiatives of the organization to the Board of Selectmen. The Middlesex 3 Coalition is a regional partnership focused on economic development in the communities located along the Rt. 3 corridor, which include Burlington, Billerica, Bedford, Chelmsford, Lowell, Lexington, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, and Westford. read more...

OCTOBER 4, 2014﻿STATE MAKES PROGRESS IN MANUFACTURING﻿BY DAN O'BRIEN

TEWKSBURY -- When he started his job as the state's secretary of Housing and Economic Development as part of the Patrick administration in 2007, Greg Bialecki can remember manufacturing executives giving him a suspicious eye. "Many of them were hearing the governor's plans about an innovation economy and clean energy and they thought, 'What about us?'" Bialecki told a crowd of about 100 people attending a Friday forum celebrating National Manufacturing Day at Riverview Technology Park. Read more...

BILLERICA - The Middlesex 3 Coalition recently honored state Representative Ken Gordon, a Bedford Democrat, and former Lowell city manager Bernard Lynch for their commitment to transportation coordination and improvements in the region. Each was presented with an Economic Development Advocate award for 2014 at the coalition’s second annual meeting earlier this month. read more...

BILLERICA -- When Kevin Costner's character in Field of Dreams heard the voice in the cornfield, "If you build it, he will come," it ended up being the best decision of his life to follow through and build a baseball diamond.

Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Richard Davey said on Wednesday that he believes in the saying, "If you build it, they will come." However, in transportation, that's not always the best decision, he emphasized. read more...

BOSTON – Thursday, February 6, 2014 –Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor today announced the 37 projects slated to receive funding from the $4 million Community Innovation Challenge (CIC) grant program. Now in its third year, the Patrick Administration originally authorized the establishment of the CIC program in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. read more...

JANUARY 29, 2014MIDDLESEX 3 REGOGNIZED FOR eCONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

The Middlesex 3 Coalition has been recognized by municipal leaders for its efforts to promote economic development north of Boston. The Massachusetts Municipal Association presented the coalition with its Kenneth E. Pickard Municipal Innovation Award on Saturday. read more...

January 29, 2014Innovative Honor For Middlesex 3by Rick Sobey

BOSTON -- The Middlesex 3 Coalition is starting to grab the attention of power players on Beacon Hill. The public-private partnership has "increased the effectiveness of local government," according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) at its annual Boston meeting on Saturday. As a result, the Middlesex 3 Coalition received the MMA's Kenneth E. Pickard Municipal Innovation Award. read more...

See video from our Middlesex 3: Rise of The Robots - robotics forum October 17, 2013 at UMass Lowell here

BILLERICA -- E Ink Corp. was making a big move. After about 15 years in Cambridge, the technology company was relocating to Billerica. While management anticipated several benefits from shipping up north, they were also worried about losing employees who didn't want to commute out of the city. read more...

September 2013RAPPIN' With The Rep: Featuring Representative Ken Gordon

LOWELL -- For the first time, the city's job-resource fair is a regional effort, with the city coordinating with the Middlesex 3 Coalition, reflecting a growing emphasis on regional efforts to attract businesses. "It's in our interest to work together to promote the region," said Bedford Town Manager Richard Reed, who is president of the coalition that also includes Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford and Lowell read more...

ROOM 50Alive, unique and inspiring tales from the Office of the Mayor, Lowell, Massachusetts

June 20, 2013Small business backbone of local economyBy juicegirl50

Two years ago Hanson Bechat moved his business, Neighborhood Parcel, a shipping and document shredding firm, from Tewksbury to Lowell. At first he was apprehensive. He had faced frustration in the past as a business owner. “I got used to the answer always being “no” before the question was asked,” he said. “But when we asked for help from the city of Lowell, we got it. We were shocked.” read more...

June 10, 2013Making Change one approval at a timeBy James Cronin

Robert Buckley is one of "those rare breeds" who did not go directly from his undergraduate alma mater, Dartmouth College in his case, to law school. Instead, he spent three years working in the economic research group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York City. Among other things, it helped him decide then and there economic research was not something he wished to continue. Since realizing his life’s work wouldn’t be in banking, he’s made a name for himself as a real estate lawyer helping clients create mixed-use projects in Massachusetts. Read More...

March 8, 2013Public/private partnerships:Positive example of How government and private Sector work togetherBY ROBERT C. BUCKLEY and Ethan Solomon

Governor Patrick recently announced that his administration will focus investment in infrastructure in an effort to grow the Commonwealth’s economy over the next several years. This commitment was one of the three principal areas of focus in his January 15th "State of the Commonwealth" address. read more...

November 30, 2012Middlesex Region Is Poised to Become the Next Life Sciences HotbedBY Edwin L. Aguirre

The life sciences industry — which includes pharmaceuticals and medical device manufacturing as well as diagnostics and biotechnology — is enjoying robust growth, with new companies and new career opportunities being created each year regionally, nationally and globally.To help tap into this vast, rapidly developing market, the Middlesex 3 Coalition — a new nonprofit regional collaboration made up of public and private sector leaders from five communities along the Route 3 corridor north of Boston — recently met on campus with business representatives to discuss the competitive advantages of setting up shop or expanding their life sciences enterprises in the region. read more...

Bedford Citizen

On October 2, Bedford Town Manager and Middlesex 3 Coalition President Rick Reed delivered opening remarks at an extremely well-attended Coalition kick-off meeting. The Middlesex 3 Coalition is a non-profit public/private partnership that helps businesses that locate in Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford and Lowell with transportation and infrastructure improvements; workforce training programs and employment development initiatives;advocacy on behalf of the region to state and federal legislators; connecting business leaders with municipal and financial contacts;streamlining permitting processes; and identifying development sites for business growth. read more...

While Washington is stymied by partisanship – resulting in an inability to move forward – Massachusetts, through recent initiatives, has embarked on a unique experiment of municipal collaboration and cooperation to achieve economic development. Through an initiative of the Patrick-Murray Administration’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, a number of communities have formed an operating entity to encourage economic development and capitalize on recent infrastructure improvements by the commonwealth. These improvements include the $300 million-plus investment in the improvement of Route 3 from Burlington to the New Hampshire border. read more...

MAY 6, 2012 COME STAY BY ROUTE 3BY JOHN LAIDLER, GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

The partnering municipalities — Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford, and Lowell — have devised a brand name – Middlesex 3 — for their shared highway corridor, along with a logo. The communities recently formed a nonprofit – The Middlesex 3 Coalition – to spearhead the initiative, and have begun recruiting businesses and other groups to join them. read more...